'While having tea by the fire I was reading your
paragraph on the little owl,' says a correspondent. 'I then went upstairs and shut the casement windows, my mind still on the subject of owls. On the landing I turned on the light and found myself staring straight into the face of a large owl, perched on the newel post at the top of the stairs and within six inches of my face. I don't think I have ever had such a surprise in my life and I felt like a witch who has conjured up her familiar. I collected my husband who, inci- dentally, refused to believe me until he saw it with
his own eyes. We were rather at a loss to know what to do with the creature—we were going 'out and weren't too keen to leave it there, not knowing if he would be intelligent enough to go out by the win- dow through which he had come in, so my husband courageously grabbed it from behind and, with agitated flappings, screechings`and peckings, it was launched out into the garden. I can't imagine owls often come into people's houses. It was about nine to twelve inches high, brown, and I wondered if it were a young tawny owl.' For my part, I might mention waking one night and finding an owl calling from my bed-rail. This was not so surprising, however, for barn owls nested every year in one of the chimneys of the house.
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